Jess Fox wins K1 gold at Paris Olympic venue

Jess Fox has made a triumphant return to the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium on the outskirts of Paris, claiming yet another gold medal in the ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup series.

Returning to the venue where she won two Olympic gold medals in 2024, Fox was once again unstoppable in the K1 event.

The now five-time world champion even overcame a two-second penalty to top the standings for her second World Cup win of the season.

"I have great memories here in Paris. It's always a pleasure to race here with the amazing crowd," Fox said in a bilingual post-race interview.

"The course was hard. It was very challenging, very physical — I'm still out of breath.

"I gave it everything and I'm so happy to take the win today."

Fox, who was born in Marseille and is the daughter of French 1996 Olympic bronze medallist Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi, claimed victory by 0.73 seconds from Slovakian Eliška Mintálová, who was the only paddler in the top six to complete a clean run and not suffer a penalty.

Paris Olympic silver medallist Klaudia Zwolińska of Poland finished third, edging Ukraine's Viktoriia Us out of the medals by just 0.05 seconds.

Fox came into the event off the back of winning three gold medals at the world championships in Oklahoma, capping a superb comeback season after she had surgery to remove a tumour from her kidney nine months ago.

Noémie Fox, who enjoyed her own golden moment on the Vaires-sur-Marne course in 2024, was a further 0.05 seconds back in fifth.

In the men's event, Australian Lucien Delfour finished in 10th place, having been hit with four seconds' worth of penalties, while Italian Giovanni de Gennaro claimed gold with a clean run.

The Fox's will have another chance to win gold in the C1 event, set to take place Friday night (AEST), an event where Jess has won back-to-back Olympic golds in Tokyo and Paris.